Record Union

As a songwriter, I found it tough.  Nobody wanted a songwriter so I learned how to sing and become a singer/songwriter.

Independent Recording Artist

Now that I understand the music business better and have professional recordings of my songs, I had to get them uploaded onto the major internet sites.

Record Union

I'm not an agent for this company, but I decided to use them to upload my songs.

Uploading a Single

I found it quite easy to upload a single.  All you need is WAV file for the song and a cover photo.

The Cover Photo

This needs to be square with 1600 pixels in size.

Problems

When I click the button for uploading a song, nothing seems to happen. However, it does work and all you have to do is wait.

When I visit my song page, I can't play a preview of the songs.  Record Union are aware of the problem and will fix it eventually.

Missing Song

One of my songs is missing  click here for the full story.

language Problems

The company is in Sweden, but they do understand English some of the time.  I have found it difficult getting information by email, but eventually I get some of the answers.  When I paid the first time using Pay Pal, the instructions were in Swedish.  They have changed that now.

Universal Product Code (UPC) 

I don't know much about this.  So I have to pay Record Union $10 just to get one.

The Cost

I pay $62 to upload for 5 years.  This includes the UPC and the World Domination package.  There are other options to chose from.  They advertise $7, but add $10 for the UPC and the cost of the other packages and you can expect to pay over $25.  In reality, I think its quite reasonable.  If you know better, please tell me?

The Price of Music

When I asked the support team "How much does it cost to upload an album?", I was directed to the price page of their web site.  This is the link:  Record Union Prices

Record Union Price Page

Scroll down the page and you will see that a single starts at $7 and an album starts at $13.  But you will probably need to pay $10 for the UPC.

Music Percentage

The Internet sites take between 30% to 40% of the $0.99 price.  Record Union take 15% of what's left, but for an extra charge they will only take 5%.  So you can gamble on your popularity!

Contacting Record Union

It is very frustrating trying to get an answer from the support team!  It is easier to search the web for answers.

Album Upload

At the moment I am looking into the procedure of uploading albums. From what I have learned so far, you can upload up to 12 tracks for a fixed price, and additional tracks cost $1.5 each.  The album price starts at $13, that price came from their web page.

World Domination Music Package

When I upload an album it will probably be for 5 years, with the world domination package.  When its done I will publish the final cost on this page.  I'm expecting it to be around £100.

Poke and Hope

Just like everything else in life, you learn by trying.  I hope this article helps!

Artistic Services

On the web site of Record Union, there is a link to Artistic Services.  So far I have only used Radio Airplay.

Radio Airplay

This is one of the Artistic Services that I have used.  I have written a separate article about Radio Airplay.  Click Here

Sound Cloud

This site is free and I can't see any advantage in using Radio Airplay.

Relevant Links:

Record Union

https://danieltuttle.com/tunecore-vs-record-union/ 

http://pusabase.com/blog/2014/09/04/record-union-review-get-your-music-online/

https://blog.landr.com/everything-musicians-need-know-digital-music-distribution/

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/get-your-music-heard-with-record-union-632223